Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Eggplant Tagine

The weekend before last, my Granny and I snatched a few Japanese eggplants out of her neighbor's garden when they weren't home. They probably wouldn't have cared, but it was fun pretending to sneak around. The eggplants have been sitting in my fridge ever since...waiting on a recipe to come my way.

That is, until last night when I made this Double Coriander Eggplant Tagine from the latest issue of Vegetarian Times:

Tagine is a traditional Moraccan stew that's slow-cooked for hours in a special pot. The tagine recipes in Veg Times, however, are made in 30 minutes. That's because the slow-simmering part is only necessary to cook the meat found in a traditional tagine.

This dish called for canned tomatoes (I used Granny's home-canned ones), onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, and cilantro. Served over whole wheat couscous, it was spicy and delightful! The only problem — I HATE eggplant skin. And even though I usually peel it off, I didn't this time because I thought it'd look prettier with the skin on.

It's sad when you're more concerned with how your food will look on your blog than how it will taste. I ended up picking all the skin off when I ate it.

21 comments:

Unknown said...

what a sacrifice blogging can imply! you're a trooper. and I bet your Grandma's home-canned tomatoes can kick their store-bought counterpart's butt without even trying.

Chelsea said...

Yum! And thanks for considering our needs when cooking your food! (j/k - I woulnd't have minded the skins off). I can just imagine you and your granny sneaking around - totally something my grandma and I would have done :)

Anonymous said...

Looks fantastic. Once again thank for trying recipes before I do so I will have a good idea if I want to give them a go. I will peel my eggplants. I hate the skin too!

thedalyn said...

Eggplant is ok, but I have real problems with the texture. Slimy is not good. However, I love spicy Moroccan food, so I might have to try it anyway...

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

Gorgeous dish! Did you wear your sneaky shoes?

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Haha, sometimes when I'm eating an ugly meal that tastes delicious, I find myself lamenting that it won't get to go on the blog due to its ugliness!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Japanese eggplants are the BEST - love that dish.

Jen said...

i have never eaten japanese eggplant. hmmmm....looks good and thanks for leaving the skins on.

jessy said...

i hear ya, Bianca! i spend tons of time making sure my food is looking its best for the blog! :)

home-canned tomatoes?! mmmmmmmm! and i've never had a tagine before - it looks freak'n awesome! i love that it takes 30 minutes to cook, too! i hate when things take forever to bake/cook - i just get too impatient!

hooray for sneaking some eggplants, too! ;) sneakiness = fun!

Laura said...

though i can't agree about the skin (i'm a skin freak, i confess!!)that still looks amazing! i looooove tagine...both the taste and the name :)

Anonymous said...

I love your last thought! Made me laugh out loud - my husband gets cranky when I'm taking pictures of food before I serve it!

I love tagines!! Moroccan food is just so damn good!

Anonymous said...

I saw that recipe in Vegetarian Times. I need to try it. It looks delicious. My enchiladas are covered in veganrella. Alot of veganrella.

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

A while ago I had made an eggplant dish and complained about the chewy texture... you left a comment saying you didn't like eggplant skins. So the next time I made eggplant I took the skin off and my gawd girl, you changed my eggplant world. I dont think I ever thanked you - but THANK YOU is in order.

All that jazz aside, your meal looks amazing and I want some for my dinner tonight... hmm... I think I have an eggplant at home

Anonymous said...

Hee! I love your sneaky eggplants! That looks delicious.

vko said...

You & Granny sound like perfect partners in crime and that tasty tagine sounds like redemption to me!
Love anything eggplant and spicy to boot- yum yum!

vko said...

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Sheridan said...

I don't like the skins either. Dish looks great!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE LOVE eggplant! This looks so good!

Lisa (Show Me Vegan) said...

So funny. Presentation is important, and your attention to detail paid off. The dish looks so tasty!

Anonymous said...

i just stumbled across your website from urban vegan's, and it's funny - i made the chickpea tagine from vegetarian times for my website this week! i'll have to try the eggplant one next - it looks delicious!

Anonymous said...

ps- do you think that the japanese eggplant tasted better than regular eggplant?